New Montgomery
In the heart of a mountain, pierced through by a hulk of twisted steel, lies the uncut gemstone that is New Montgomery. Initially formed as a bastion for the Shānite Clan known as the Abbasid, the Shipwreck City has since enticed millions of disparate individuals to her slums and grottos. While some are forced here, on the run from hardships or the law, others see opportunity in the uproar of the crowded streets and the crackling holo-signs. Here is a port where the pirate can stride unfettered, displaying his prizes like a merchant might showcase his trinkets and baubles. Here is a market where any luxury, sin, or service imaginable can be acquired by the discerning eye, hidden from the judgement of God under the cavern roof. Here is a frontier where gun smoke mixes with narcotic haze and assaults the senses. This is the smell of freedom, the freedom to succeed and fail on your own strength. This is the home of opportunity, the chance to get rich or be buried fast. This is the Dragon of the South, and its hunger is never sated. The Shipwreck City The original ‘Montgomery’ of New Montgomery was an A.C.R.E. mining station in orbit of Shān, brought down to the planetary surface through the combined efforts of the Clan Yngling and Clan Abbasid. Seeking to make use of the technologies and equipment such a station would hold, yet lacking the resources to loot it while in orbit, the station was instead driven through the atmosphere in a corona of fire. Even as its energy cores burned white hot in the ice and snow, Abbasid engineers scrambled through the twisted superstructure of Montgomery to secure the wreckage as a new home for their people. The station’s bulk had smashed into a geological formation best described as a ‘hollow mountain,’ hosting a cavern large enough to fit several battleships within its confines. This geological fluke, altogether mundane in terms of Shān’s irregular formations of stone, was then sealed and secured by the Clan Abbasid, who set about establishing their population within the cavern, huddled in tents and homes clustered about the base of Montgomery Station, like some grand metallic pillar holding aloft the ceiling of the world. Saved from the biting cold of the surface, the Abbasid came to call this underground haven Najmat Alhazi, for this ‘lucky star’ of plasteel and metal had opened unto them a new home, protected from their rivals. Even as it grew into a true city, Montgomery has maintained its significance to the Clan. It has given them power, wealth, and respect among their foes and allies alike, and woe to any would-be warlord foolhardy enough to lay siege to the Shipwreck City. Exiting from the icy surface or the confines of a spaceship, a fresh arrival to New Montgomery is usually overwhelmed by the sheer volume of activity occurring within this urban cavern. No sunlight reaches into this hollowed out mountain, but everything is awash in a multitude of neon from holographic signs that hiss at passersby with images advertising any imaginable thing, most commonly some form of vice. Merchants call out in a plethora of languages to any who look like they have a credit to spare, hawking modified firearms illegal in the Core, and drugs strong enough to kill - though they guarantee an unbelievable high. Bands of Abbasid warriors, any and all skin draped in colorful silks and ivory masks that hide swords and devilish grins alike, clash in the open air with gangers and thieves who become too brash for their own good. The staccato sound of gunshots are not an uncommon sound to echo through the streets as piratical carousers enjoy a night on the town before departing once more towards the stars. This is the home of the possibility, where anything can be purchased or achieved, so long as one is flush with credits lining their pockets. New Montgomery is, above all else, a catalyst for change. From the lowest dregs of the cavern to even the Five Dragons watching greedily over their City, nothing is written in stone in this city. When a kingpin dies, others scramble to secure their place in the power vacuum - when the lowly street tough with a revolver who controls an intersection between two alleys chokes to death on his meal, the beggars who once lived in fear and subservience consume with ravenous hunger all the meager offerings he left, gaining strength from his death in a perverse circle of life. As the social order is caught in flux, so too do the people who inhabit this rim world metropolis differ from one another in countless ways. From an Abbasid fortress to a home for displaced Shānite miners, from an overflowing war refugee camp to the new port of the Vagrant Fleet, it is little wonder that the mountain itself has not yet begun to shift upon its very roots. As the capital city of a new Confederation, seeking to wash its appearance clean of stains and grime, New Montgomery once more progresses into another era, unsure of its future in changing times. History The Fall of Montgomery Station Amidst celebrations of a new year in 3180, two men conspired in dark rooms, hatching a plot that would forever change the face of Shān and, hopefully, bring about a new era for the Clans. One, the Kaymakam who would eventually be known as the Enduring Dragon of the Oppressive Eye, a charismatic leader that was known for strategic scheming and plots. The other, his protege the newly-made Thane of Clan Yngling - his rising star ascendant with signs of promise if only he could learn to temper his anger. The two sealed their compact in blood, then bound the fortunes of their houses through marriage - the Daughter of the Dragon would wed the Wolf, and with that the deal was made. On January 28th, 3180, at 11:38 Imperial Standard, 73 Rusiyyah ships bearing the Clan Yngling sigil, lighted from Heimabjergsteinn and began their assault on Montgomery Station. With a defense force of only some scant number of patrol boats, anchored by one old corvette, the Rusiyyah picked them off with only one loss - an overzealous patrol boat who's captain wanted to secure the kill on the Corvette and thus claim it as a prize. Once the picket line was overcome, it was short work to take out the point defenses of the Station itself, and then the true assault began. Dozens of lighters full of raiders boarded the Station, moving to take over key points, secure high profile hostages, and disable systems. Heavy bombardment from the assaulting ships disabled the engines that kept it in geosynchronous orbit around Shān, and the station began a slow descent towards reentry. Eighteen brave souls were chosen to remain on station, adjusting course with minimal controls to land on the target chosen - Mount Moriar - and to minimize damage from impact. Though none survived to see it, they struck true, an arrow from heaven driving into the hollow mountain, a gong strike heard for more than hundred kilometers distant. That strike was the signal for the Abbasid nomads lying in wait to move in and secure the kill. The hulk still burning, they began to extinguish flames and set up a defense line of their own. This was their new home, and none would drive them from it now. This expeditionary force of Abbasid was joined by the bulk of the Clan in the coming weeks - fortuitous, as they would soon suffer a storm of assaults by others looking to steal their prize. Birth of the Shipwreck City Even as the flames were being extinguished, the former nomads of Abbasid clambering over the hulk of Montgomery Station like worker ants, eyes of desperation turned and ears perked from foothills, ravines, and meagre caves that housed gaunt families. These wretched peoples were the remaining scions of Clan Hatagin, disgraced and driven into worthless lands after the Bone Wars to nurse wounds still not recovered. Chunks of plasteel and melting superstructure the size of houses rained down like vengeful comets, but the Hatagin saw only wealth and a chance for former glory restored. As the last of the fires of the Najmat Alhazi were put out, Clan Abbasid began to dig shallow slit-trenches in permafrost and flaking rock to prepare for war with a phantom they thought long thought vanquished. Over the course of two weeks they weathered minor probing raids and held the Station. Beginning to grow complacent at a foe easily dealt with yet again, their attention turned inward, to the restoration of their new home. Yet all was not won and on the fourteenth day, the roar of engines filled the morning air and great plumes of snow were sent skywards. The warhost of Hatagin descended upon the wreck in furious numbers unseen since the days of the Bone War, seeking to break the defense with a mechanized charge. The struggle was fierce, and while many scoff at the idea of Abbasid warriors in modern days, more akin to becoming fattened traders and criminal bankers, they are fierce fighters when pushed to the brink. They were turned back all the same, and Montgomery Station remained in the hands of Abbasid. But it was not the last time that they would need to defend their claim. After the Hatagin were pushed back, Clan Scylfing made a gift of a pair of massive automated rail cannons, so that such an incursion would never again be met without the aid of allies. The only real attack made on Mount Moriar since their installation was one of a massive band of disgruntled miners who blamed the Abbasid for the A.C.R.E. Corporation abandoning them and leaving them to starve after the fall of Montgomery. No longer without defenses, the death toll of the miners was extreme, and nigh on a year passed without any disturbing the peace of Montgomery. Still, the former and ousted workers of A.C.R.E. starved, and eventually they returned, but not for war. This time they came hands outstretched, begging for succor. Mount Moriar was hollow, and Clan Abbasid had only restored the Station for themselves, with space to grow. The interior of the mountain lay unused but for the beginnings of massive algae farms. A deal was struck - Abbasid would control and supervise, this was their claim, but the miners were free to enter the mountain, to help build the City that would come to be, and thrive within it. This was the true beginning of New Montgomery. The years to follow saw the War of the Artificials growing more and more intense in the Core with many fleeing, only to wind up in New Montgomery. These hundreds, then thousands, and finally millions, were at first welcome additions to the rapidly growing city, always in need of more hands to fill menial jobs. However, eventually food began to grow scarcer, with always more hungry mouths coming in. New Montgomery was filling faster than she could grow, and even with Rho Epsilon reopened, and a favela colloquially becoming known as Steenmouth growing in months, still the bulk of new refugees entered New Montgomery and stayed. History will bear witness that the only thing that kept the Shipwreck City from starving en masse were the growing numbers of pirates in the Southern Marches. New Montgomery was a lawless city during the last years of the reign of the Betrayer of Humanity, and the pirates were able to trade easily come by food stuffs and necessary supplies for much more valuable goods mined from the surface or scavenged from one A.C.R.E. site or other. House Vagrant Comes Knocking More refugees, more pirates, every day. Even months after the legendary Dive, people in the streets of New Montgomery are speaking in hushed tones of House Vagrant. No battles were fought, no blood spilled in this effort, just one day the city belonged to Clan Abbasid, and the next, House Vagrant owned everything. The bars were full of pirate crews, machine shops busy day and night chopping the remains of looted and gutted trophies, or repairing and refitting damaged ships. These new Vagrants brought in such an influx of drugs, flesh, and other illicit goods, that there was no competing with them. Abbasid withdrew to Montgomery Station, prepared to hold that with their last breath. But while House Vagrant was omnipresent in the City, their rule was barely felt. Those warlords known in hushed tones as the Seven of Six were generally uninterested in New Montgomery as more than a safe harbor and port of call. Three in four faces roaming the streets were of a Vagrant, but few would become regular sights. Here a week and gone again, sometimes for months, only to be replaced by new faces. In this way, Abbasid was able to capitalize over the following years, using that disinterest in the City to secure important and strategic positions within the City, securing their claim once more. So long as the Shipwreck City thrived and remained open to them, House Vagrant seemed to care little who ran the day-to-day operations. However, one thing that was felt keenly was the softening of the ever-growing starvation crisis facing New Montgomery. Not from a place of goodwill, but one of practicality, did the Vagrant solve the Shipwreck City's problem. A safe harbor was only good so long as it survived and thrived itself, the Vagrant pirates emulated the Rusiyyah and were quickly joined with them in bringing foodstuffs and equipment that would help grow more into New Montgomery, as they both kept the City afloat and were traded at a premium and were always easier to come by than more luxury goods. Extra mouths were put to work either in massive factories created to keep the Fleets armed and fit for a fight and to tear down massive hulks secured in raids and battles, or as new hands on ships always needing a few spare bodies. Vagrant Moves Out With the hard-won legitimacy gained by the newly christened Confederation of the Upright Vagrant, change is coming again to New Montgomery. A desire to keep their illicit dealings and pirate trade in the shadows is not easily accomplished in as large a place as the Shipwreck City has grown into, even as far from the Core as Shān is. Especially not with the new Imperial Consulate being constructed there. Buoyed by concessions given by the new King of Shān, multitudes of Vagrant Captains have begun investing in a new city. Their own city. Port Refuge and its Veiled Shipyard would make the perfect location for a shadow port for the legitimized pirates, a duty-free tax haven, any levies to be the burden of and paid by the rest of the planet in thanks for all the good the Confederation had brought to Shān. New Montgomery Capital Concerns Even as the Imperial Consulate goes in and Vagrant crime trickles out, there is a question in the Shipwreck City, and a growing concern among Clan Abbasid. The King of Shān - the same Clan Yngling Thane that struck down Montgomery Station those twenty years before - has yet to take up residence in New Montgomery, splitting his time moving between all settlements of Shān, and the Holt in Clan Scylfing's territory. With Vagrant putting so much work into Port Refuge, and the seat of government in question, Abbasid worries that the trade empire it has built as the hub between Shān and the rest of Acheron Rho, might come undone. Layout of the City New Montgomery is the epitome of controlled chaos. The urban sprawl is stacked upon the cave floor like a metal skin, crossed with alleys and streets that stand out in harsh light like glowing veins. These boroughs and slums climb the sloping walls of the cavern in a terraced pattern, only ever stopping when the wall becomes the roof of the stone sky. Expanding into every nook and cranny of solid ground, the only direction left for new settlers and immigrants was up. Even as homes and businesses are layered atop one another, towers rise from this sea of humanity, cavern-scrapers that reach upwards to brush the ceiling of rock. Yet these towers are met halfway - more intrepid souls have chosen to cling to the ceiling, their roads replaced with bridges and a view of the cavern floor, kilometers below. The towers that descend from the ceiling tend to cause a measure of vertigo to visitors, as one must descend to reach the ‘higher’ floors that hang from the points of these plasteel stalactites. The Four Entrances The Skyway Door Though it stands out against the horizon as one approaches, the wreck of the Montgomery is not utilized as a port for the average citizen, even though the station has undergone extensive repairs throughout the three decades it has rested planetside. Instead, the jagged promontory of the station’s hulk is commonly reserved for members of the Clan Abbasid returning from off world voyages, though blessed as they are with the Shipwreck City, it is no wonder that they rarely leave the planetary surface compared to the other Free Clans. Ships take off and land upon fueling platforms that have been attached to the hull of Montgomery, with their passengers then entering into the station itself. Members of the other Clans are begrudgingly extended the same right, as a token gift and acknowledgement that they consider themselves superior to those not of their ancestry - though the Abbasid see this as an extra opportunity to rub their fortunes in the face of their cousins. Non-Clan trespassers are usually warded off with gunshots and brandished blades, though vessels in significant distress are usually allowed to land - for a hefty fee after the fact. Heart's Gate Chiseled out of bedrock and mountain stone, there are but a few methods by which one can enter New Montgomery, overseen by eyes of greed and curiosity, from masked Abbasid warriors sizing up newcomers to pickpockets looking for an easy target. The primary artery through which travelers flow into and out of the city is the Heart’s Gate, a gargantuan concrete tunnel girded with reinforced bunker doors in the unlikely case that an attack is made against the mountain. Disgruntled Abbasid clansmen pace through the snow in front of the tunnel, their silks fluttering wildly in the frigid winds and their masks stained with frost. Looming above these reluctant guards are a pair of automated rail cannons, weapons of a caliber made for leveling fortresses and mechas. A gift to the Abbasid from the Clan Scylfing, masters of engineering and entrenchment, these beasts of siege warfare draw intense amounts of power and are regarded as ‘overkill’ for any two-bit raiding party that descends on the city. Despite this, the Sisters, as they are lovingly named, offer sufficient deterrent to any force believing they can outgun ‘meager city folk.’ The Hólmavík Line The second terrestrial entrance into New Montgomery is the Hólmavík Line, a tunneled railway for the rudimentary mag-train system that connects the many meager settlements of Shān together for travel and trade alike. While the mag-trains whip across the ice flats at great speed, enterprising clansmen and miners not willing to hike all the way to the Shipwreck City latch onto the sides of the train cars with magnetic hooks. These riders hang on for dear life, with the true veterans being those able to evade or protect themselves against the ‘lightning gates’ installed within the Ice Line tunnel. Though the Abbasid claim these lethal electrical devices are meant to be decontaminating checkpoints and nothing more, it has been pointed out that there are no microbes that could survive on the planetary surface that need to be destroyed through such powerful means. If they survive, the brave train riders are finally deposited within the relatively safer confines of the many freight stations deposited throughout and below the New Montgomery sprawl. Rat Runs For those many souls who have found themselves on the wrong end of a gang feud or Clan dispute, there exists a number of passages by which they may discreetly enter and exit New Montgomery. Known quite simply as the Rat Runs, a network of tunnels and passages extend out from under the city proper and onto the icy surface beyond the mountain walls. The passages unofficially maintained by the criminal syndicates are regular passages for couriers who think it best to remain unseen from their competitors, sneaking below the planetary surface. However, many such tunnels are drilled through the earth and unknown by the powers that be, utilized either by fugitives from harsh Clan justice or long-dead saboteurs who sought to launch an invasion of the mountain. Upon several failed attempts to invade a city wherein almost every individual is armed with some form of deadly weapon, outside belligerents thought it best to cease with such subterranean assaults. Tiers The Warrens Tier Zero Tucked away from a passing glance, running under the city streets like capillaries of concrete, the Warrens keep the Montgomery sprawl alive, if not healthy. Power cables and sewage lines run through these pitch-black tunnels, begrudgingly maintained by those too poor and decrepit to even live in proper homes, instead finding refuge below the floors of others. Within these halls lay the thrumming geothermal power cores that give light and life to the underground metropolis - powering air filtration systems, atmosphere generators, and recycling facilities for the waste generated. These crucial systems are guarded by nameless individuals clad in bulky hazardous material suits, their shadowy forms stalking between the blinding glow of the postech reactors. Unnamed and unknown, never speaking to outsiders who enter their domain, these sentinels keep the Shipwreck City alive, shuffling about in the depths, consigning themselves to prolonging the lives of those who live above. The Stalagmites Tier One In a city built of concentric rings that climb the walls of the mountain's interior, the Stalagmites, resting upon the cavern floor, are the largest space by far. Massive housing complexes make homes for the poor or those newly arrived to New Montgomery, as well as the oft-away crews of Vagrant ships. The largest space in a confined area, everything is built to maximize the space, building up and over and into each other in a tight cluster of cramped. The majority of cargo brought into the city is sold and stored here, among crowded stalls and alleyways that are lit in an electric glow and sport many tags of various gang toughs. Interspersed among these mercantile ghettos are the algae farms that keep the city fed, great circular vats that sate the hunger and thirst of disparate millions, and wear a second hat as serving as the city's "parks", offering some green habitation to those living here used to only seeing rusted steel. Dishes of algae, shrimp, and other such simplistic aquatic life are a common commodity in the Stalagmites. These simple meals for a meager lifestyle can be found being prepared and consumed in many open-air markets, and while the source food isn't always appetizing, the Shānites have learned to prepare their ingredients in a way to set the mouth watering. The Habitation Zone Tier Two Hugging the cavern walls is the Habitation Zone, a band of residential buildup on a steep grade partially carved into the rock itself. From this vantage, the majority of New Montgomery’s permanent citizenry have a view of the cavern in its entirety, though they have to attain their eyes to see the other side of their underground home. While many of the poor end up flowing into the available space of the Zone, many of the city’s craftsmen, merchants, and specialists find their lodgings among these clustered residences in cliffside terraces stacked atop one another. Among these roofs reside many of the ethnic and cultural enclaves of the city, those offworlders and immigrants who can’t - or won’t - let go of their past heritage. Such enclaves and their wildly different cultural practices clash with one another on a regular basis, prompting extensive patrols and recruitment programs from the Golems along the streets of this bustling human hive. The Habitation Zone is also the area of the city where money men and their ilk find refuge. Loan sharks and wildcat bankers roost in the eves of gambling houses and scrimshaw accounting houses, waiting for vulnerable prey who are down on their luck. The book-keeping for various criminal organizations are stored in the archives of these suspicious financiers, as paper records tend to be safer than digital records in the age of postech. The Stalactites Tier Three Hanging from the roof of the cavern are the Stalactites, the homes of the wealthy and affluent who desire to look down on the rest of the city. Most of these oligarchs have made their fortunes through criminal means, and they keep one another in check, holding proverbial knives at each other’s throats in the tense criminal ecosystem of New Montgomery. Here roads are replaced by bridges, the crime lords and kingpins are followed by their entourages of hired muscle, as cavern-scrapers stretch below them for kilometers, pointed at the cavern floor like the fingers of God. Those who anger these bosses of the underworld are pitched over the railing of the bridge-thoroughfares, sent screaming into the city below. These mansions and suspended avenues, hanging over the city like a contemplative suicide, have borne witness to some of New Montgomery’s bloodiest feuds. More than once, Abbasid hitmen have stormed the manor of some overeager crime boss and decapitated another syndicate or cartel that seeks to drive out all other competition in the city. While murders in the streets and the annihilation of minor gangs are of little concern to the powers that be, it rains blood upon the lower city when ambition pits another mobster against the ferocity of the Clan Abbasid and the various other malefactors who preside over Shān’s criminal underworld. The Summit Tier Four The summit of New Montgomery is not so much a part of the city itself, so much as a defense outpost erected to watch over the inhabitants below. Listening posts and decryption banks offer a preliminary warning against any potential assault, while surface-to-orbit missile silos stand primed to bare the ‘dragon’s fangs’ against an attack from space. Clan Scylfing guardians maintain and improve these systems constantly, operating from within the ‘Heavenly Shield’ bunker complex lodged within the summit. The only other group that bothers to live in such lofty altitudes is the Shānite Institute, a band of independent scientists for whom the isolation of the mountaintop serves as both protection from thieves and a secluded place for their studies. The summit is also the home of the Imperial Consulate, boasting spartan and utilitarian rooms for offworld ambassadors, separated from the dangers of the city below. Protecting these high value personnel is military outpost of Castle Hoarfrost. Not so much an actual castle as an encampment, Hoarfrost serves as an independent military training facility for those pursuing officer training and military life on this distant rim world. While many of her graduates end up serving on Vagrant vessels, some choose to stay on the planetary surface, lending their services to the defense of the Montgomery summit, acting as escorts and guides for visiting ambassadors. Notable Districts Old Montgomery Station The most distinctive of the Shipwreck City’s districts is her namesake - the hulk of Montgomery Station. The largest structure on the cavern skyline, the station’s silhouette crosses from the mountain wall to the stone floor at a diagonal angle, as if it is some grand supporting pillar that stops the very walls from caving in. The plasteel walls of Montgomery, and the neighborhoods immediately surrounding its base, are all under the direct control of the Clan Abbasid, their silk-clad soldiers throwing back any rival gangs seeking to lay claim to the Najmat Alhazi. The station’s interior distorts one’s sense of direction, as the interior airlocks and hallways are all titled at a forty-five degree angle, with the only level rooms being those remodeled or added on by Abbasid architects. This is the meeting place for the leaders of the Clan, the Kaymakam of Montgomery. Each Kaymakam controls a specific borough, market, or piece of territory within the urban sprawl, and though they wage battle amongst one another for more wealth and expanded hunting grounds, the Kaymakam are willing to unite when the entire city is threatened with a crisis, whether natural or artificial. The Wall Holding to the border of the metropolis is the Wall, a district all of its own that surrounds the rest of the city in a thin line, held between the sprawl and the cavern edge. As those in the Habitation Zone begin to achieve some measure of stability and wealth, they slowly edge ever closer to the Wall. While cramped and closed in are bywords of New Montgomery, the space built into the cavern's husk offers something that comes at a premium everywhere - extra space. The Wall extends up through most of the city tiers, though the majority of its residents live among the Habitation Zone and Stalagmites. Stacked one atop another like endless vertical rowhouses, the sheer number of cultures forced into such close proximity leads to regular flare-ups of tension and violence between city blocks, buildings, and even inter-tenement violence. The Cutting Floor Situated just beyond the Heart’s Gate is an open plaza of steel and industry, crawling with masked workers and the sparks of plasma torches, and lined with all number of disparate processing facilities. This is the Cutting Floor, where raw materials brought in from the planetary surface are divided up for distribution across the city. Salvage from unfortunate vessels is sliced apart and hammered down to serve as construction material for more homes in the sprawl, more bullets for her citizens, or to be melted into slag and resold for a pittance. The ice convoys of the nomadic Clan Breuni, necessary to feed Montgomery’s many algae farms, dump their frozen cargo here to be torn apart with saws and hammers. The workers here, referred to as Cutters, might as well be a gang in their own right, as they fend off other criminal interests from their slice of industry with power tools and grit. The Stays While at first this would appear as just another neighborhood, with a level of quality just barely above that of most of those of the Habitation zone, this perfectly placed set of streets and buildings serves as the model attraction to those from off world as a temporary living space. Marketed as the go to point for newcomers, immigrants, and visiting offworlders alike, the “luxury” present actually acts as part of a much bigger facade meant to draw people in for the purpose of surveillance. Whether it be welcoming the desperate who’s doing a bit too well for themselves, providing easy lodging for visiting nobles, or even a tiny bit of splendor for traveling serfs on business, the ability to keep a watchful eye on it’s inhabitants is one of the city’s most useful tools in maintaining the security of its visitors, and even itself. Notable Locations Sixth Dragon Stadium One of the most popular entertainment venues in New Montgomery, the Sixth Dragon Stadium is a psiball arena fit to hold thousands. This is the arena where the Shān Spikers earned their infamy through their rough-and-tumble style of play, with many limbs being broken to the sounds of a cheering crowd. Even the gang wars and criminal enterprises operate by the stadium’s clock, as gunfire in the city draws to a close with the beginning of every match. For many, months of credits are won and lost on the endless betting rings that circle the local psiball circuit - after a string of victories that bankrupted the casino monopoly of the Fidebdi mob family and threw the city into a week of chaos, placing bets on the Shān-born superstar Tector Broden is no longer accepted in any Montgomery gambling institution, illicit or otherwise. Built by the Kaymakam of the Clan Abbasid, the fact that the entire stadium was funded solely through the sale of arms to anti-Cygnus guerrilla fighters is more of an open secret than anything else. Much to the chagrin of the local populace, the Sixth Dragon has not yet hosted a match from an offworld team, though many wary citizens have stockpiled extra ammunition for the riots that would surely follow such a momentous occasion. The Consulate One of the newest major constructions in the city, the Imperial Consulate is close enough to the heart of New Montgomery to be relevant, but also close enough to the spaceport to put any nervous diplomats at ease. In comparison to most of the city's architectural design, the Consulate is a building of understated elegance and luxury. Bankrolled and protected by a consortium of Bloodhound captains as a self-stated symbol of the Confederation's success, the interior eschews ostentatious furnishings in place of simple function and comfort, though built to a standard that would be high quality even in the core worlds. Apart from the offices of stationed diplomatic staff, the Consulate also has a host of small rooms tucked away in odd corners with limited surveillance, designed as places where visiting Imperial officials can arrange illicit deals with individual Vagrant captains in private. Fog Market Among the grottos of the stalagmites, many hooded figures can be seen entering into seemingly random houses, never reappearing from the bolted and reinforced doors. Follow them through, down past the fake floorboards and along the stairs carved from the mountain stone. This is the Fog Market, the premier bazaar of that which is illegal and dangerous. While contraband and illicit goods can be openly sold on the city streets, some merchants see their stock as far too valuable to hawk to crowds in the open air. All manner of artifices, from universal data spikes and archaeotech to chemical weapons, might be purchased in the Fog Market. Due to the exclusivity of their merchandise and the wealth of their clientele, the traders here charge quite a sum extra for their goods as compared to the merchants above. Though it is technically possible for anyone to enter the markets, those sliding between the stalls and perusing the selection are often a who’s who of the current leadership for New Montgomery’s criminal echelons. The Ivory Crown Ivory Crown is the name given to the training and lodging facility for the elite muscle of the Stalactite criminal oligarchs. Despite a lack of subtlety, the blades who are honed to an edge within the Crown do not disappoint their illicit clientele. Blank-faced killers, referred to off-hand as the Shifra Eaj, such hired muscle is an intimidation factor all of its own during heated negotiations, though they show their true worth in heated battles and brawls. Known as the ‘Ivory Blades’ in Imperial tongues, it is rumored that their finest knives and swords are cut from the bones of their deadliest opponents. It is little wonder that no graffiti marks the blanks walls of the Ivory Crown, for those brave and foolish vandals willing enough to try end up hanging from the ceiling as corpses, free advertisement for the Shifra Eaj and their proficiency. Burēdo Sauna Fed by geothermal reservoirs deep beneath the frozen surface, the Burēdo Sauna caters to those criminals and street toughs looking for rest and relaxation without having to fear an ambush from their rivals. These hot pools are watched over by the Branch Ikeda, whose ferocity wards off any conflict that might otherwise spring up in their haven of temporary neutrality. This tense peace has led to the Burēdo’s reputation as grounds for negotiations between families and syndicates looking to make amends. Even then, gangsters eye one another warily through the steam, as sharpened swords lay just below the surface of the frothing waters. Sector's End Despite the adventures and excitement promised to intrepid corsairs, there is no circumnavigation of the fact that space travel is, for those not blessed with wealth, a rather dull routine of maintenance, testing, and a plethora of seemingly minor repairs that can all prove intensely lethal if not handled properly. With such danger ever present while aboard their vessels, it is only to be expected that the thousands of spacers who flow through New Montgomery would seek some inkling of rest and relaxation while on solid ground. To capitalize on these weary spacers, the street now known as Sector’s End was set in stone, an avenue of alcohol and recreation that extends from the Heart’s Gate like an arrow into New Montgomery’s center. Most visitors and newcomers to the city will likely find themselves along this route, passing crowds of rambunctious sailors meandering from bar to bar and disembarked pirate crews, huddled close together and discussing their latest hauls, weaponry laid bare for all to see. Bar patrons who have maxed out their tabs and specialists in between jobs jostle through the busy street, hawking out their services to any captain short a few able hands. At the termination of this lane, though it splits off into many thousands of alleys before then, is the Crooked Smile Speakeasy, infamous as the death site of The Eternal, one of the original leaders of the Vagrant Fleet. Even as soldiers of fortune and ex-serfs stumble from table to table and sip on algae beers, the stool of the ‘First Among Corsairs’ remains empty, the blood stains left to dry and the bullet still lodged in the bar top. Hearth of the Enduring Face To label the Hearth of the Enduring Face as a center of worship is a gross misclassification, though her members practice their craft with zealous devotion. Within the walls of this abandoned house of worship, the pews have been exchanged with medical apparatuses, with cleansed beds set in the open like plinths to display some grand piece of art - or, mayhaps, some profane altar. The surgeons of the Face do not heal, they do not open their doors to any and all comers. Within the bleached walls of their fortified sanctum, one might acquire a new identity, a new life - change the face and fingerprints, rework the DNA with genetic treatments. The very foundation of the human form is made mutable with blade and artifice here - while the art of biopsionics would likely be more efficient, the tenants of the Face find such ease of change to be unnerving and worthless. Change is an art, change must take effort and time. Criminals looking to relinquish their past, bohemian sensationalists searching for new experiences, saboteurs and other secretive types looking to infiltrate the most secure of organizations - all find their solution among the Enduring Face, the deadened eyes of determined surgeons reflected off of their various edges and implements. The Surgeon-Rector The Surgeon-Rector of the Face is said to be an individual who changes their very being as easily as the wind shifts in its direction. They has been seen many a time by the public, and their features are always wildly differed, the bones of the face adjusted incrementally with every sighting and the eyes dancing with every color imaginable. Many surmise that the Rector must spend almost every waking hour placed under the knife, the cold calculations of steel working to alter and replace. Such fastidiousness and devotion to the appearance of the flesh is rare indeed, and it is common belief that the Surgeon-Rector will never die, stealing the forgotten off of the streets to imbue themselves with new life. Though these are naught but wild rumors, there is a base unease when one sights the Rector and their congregation of practitioners, as if their very appearance, their very soul is a facade. Spaceports The Marble Fields Carved before the foot of Mount Moriar like some chiseled plaza of the past, the Marble Fields serve as the primary spaceport of New Montgomery, where the vessels visiting this free port touch down on landing pads in plumes of powdered snow and flakes of ice. Seeing as how these ships cannot land en masse in the subterranean halls of the sprawl proper, they instead land just beyond the Heart’s Gate and move their goods and crew into the city manually. Stepping out of their vessels wrapped in coats and donning breath masks, crews and deckhands ferry supplies through concrete arteries either perched on grav-sleds or hoisted in gloved hands. For heavier cargoes, ranging from imported fauna to mechanized chassis, the gravitic train system of the Hólmavík Line making a brief stop at this open air landing zone before continuing onward into the Shipwreck City. Many of the landing pads on the Fields, situated beyond the fastness of the mountain walls, find themselves surrounded by sandbags and patrolled by fur-laden security teams. With their long rifles trained on the horizon and their practiced gaze keeping watch for the movements of marauders or Hatagin raiders among the foothills, these marksmen work a thankless life of risk, their jet black goggles betraying no emotion as they save a bullet for any fool brave enough to try and put the Fields to flame. Either motivated by a hatred of the Clan That Bled or strapped for credits with only combat skills to give, it is common practice to hand a meager sum of valuables to these sharpshooters as one enters the city, a combination of bribery and gratitude in equal turn. Notable Groups Council of Kaymakam A tyrant takes with one hand and lashes out with the other - a true leader must be willing to both give and take for the good of his charges. Such an ideal is embodied by the Kaymakam of the Clan Abbasid, the chiefs who provide for the many families and bloodlines that are interspersed throughout New Montgomery. While it is inevitable that those outside of the Free Clans will find residence on the turf of a Kaymakam, the streets and neighborhoods they have laid claim to, the protection of Abbasid interests and the well-being of the Shipwreck City march hand-in-hand, for the most part. When a rival gang seizes a street corner or start collecting protection payments from more vulnerable neighbors, it is the duty of a Kaymakam to make them taste steel. When the local dens of vice run dry of their stock, a Kaymakam must make sure to appease those under his watch. When the algae farms break down or the water supplies choke in their piping, a Kaymakam must move foodstuffs into their neighborhoods to stave off the horseman of famine. Yet, juxtaposed as they are within the Port of Sin, the Kaymakam must be both an alderman and a headsman. Bloody mercantile competition is eternal, as the streets on which more valuable contraband is sold see greater prosperity from the influx of credits. Bullets and lasers arc across streets and in cramped alleys, as the Abbasid, much like every criminal power in the sprawl, seek to expand their influence. Masked soldiers of silk ensure tenuous peace on the open street, breaking up gangs and striking fear into common miscreants, yet beneath their robes lie monoblades and magnetic pistols, weapons of war close at hand. To stay alive in the sprawl, a Kaymakam must be versed in both poison and ink, ink and poison - to focus solely upon crime or civility is to invite ruin upon one's holdings. Though none can truly lay claim to the ostentatious title 'Lord of New Montgomery,' the Council of Kaymakam still supervise and manage a sizable portion of the port's dealings and functions from day to day - that is, when they manage to agree on anything at all. Gatherings of the Council, held within the spire of Montgomery Station, are noisy and hectic affairs, with robed emissaries brandishing blades at one another, their ivory masks temporarily put aside so their aggravated shouting can be clearly heard by their compatriots. The gathered Kaymakam have only ever unanimously agreed upon an issue on two occasions - the decision to bring down the station in the first place, and the rallying of the Abbasid banners against the First (and last) Hatagin Siege of New Montgomery. Though rarely stirred to light the fires of war, the Clan Abbasid can muster tens of thousands of blades when necessary, by virtue of being the largest Free Clan in population. The Hatagin were dashed to pieces on the slopes of the mountain, their corpses placed upon pikes to give warning to those in retreat. The Kaymakam gazed upon the power they held when unified, the destruction they had wrought. Within days, they returned to barrages of verbal abuse and slinging grievances at one another for supposed incompetence - safety and comfort are not afforded to those who break the norm, after all. Golems Contrary to popular belief, the streets of New Montgomery are not entirely without the presence of order. Their mechas painted with the stories of their various home worlds, colorful ponchos cast over their battle armor, Golems patrol the avenues and alleys of the sprawl with keen eyes and powerful rifles. These bands of stone-faced peacekeepers came from the humble beginnings of shop guards and cheap labor in the city’s ethnic enclaves, eventually banding together within their communities so as to better defend their people and way of life. As such, the Golems are a sampling of every possible culture, homeworld, and ancestry in the sector, a collation of disparate paramilitaries seeking to protect their own. These differences often lead to infighting within their own ranks, even as the citizenry decry the rough fist of street justice distributed by Golem marksmen - they fire no warning shots and only carry live ammunition. Despite such apparent harshness, these enclave guardians do not patrol to stop petty street crime, unless it is against their own families or communities. Golems will wave by market thieves and murderers alike, so long as they don’t damage the cultural web that holds these stern wardens to their duty. The Five Dragons Though the Kaymakam of the Clan Abbasid are meant to both give and take in equal measure, there are a select few who have chosen to cast aside their responsibility to Clan and kin and transcended their original purpose and used their social clout to advance their illicit interests. These are the Five Dragons, warlords of the sprawl. Despite their lack of involvement in the society of the Free Clans, the Dragons are still an integral component of Abbasid culture, for they help keep the city of New Montgomery alive with their dubious pursuits. Their reach, while not omnipotent, is at the very least omnipresent throughout the city - from power and security to drugs and industry, the Dragons hold some sway in all the myriad affairs of the mountain port. On the tiled floors of shogi parlors, supplicants kowtow to these haughty warlords, hoping to curry favor in the opiate-filled court. The First First among the Dragons is the Resplendent Dragon of the Forbidden Flame, Concierge of Carnal Pleasures. Little is known about her personal life, though the strongest rumor - whispered quietly, lest it be their last - ties her to a tragedy within the House of Reticulum. Her houses of rapture and earthly pleasures are not merely brothels, but foundational pillars of lust and desire that have taken root in nearly every community of New Montgomery. Such proliferation amongst the city makes the Resplendent Dragon a valuable and oft-sought information broker, as all lips are loosened while basking in the afterglow found in these crimson-light clubs, her workers doubling as spies who listen to any and all patrons who shadow their doorways. Sharp eyes and sharp knives are of equal import to her agents, eternally patient until they can eliminate their targets with but a single blow, a lone whisper, or a stray rumor. The Second The Vibrant Dragon of the Shifting Cloud, kingpin of drugs in the Southern Marches. His hydroponics operations are the stuff of legend - growing all manner of opiates and narcotics, rows upon rows of inconspicuous flowers and stalks stealing precious water from the algae farms, harboring countless violent highs and overdoses. From the very rim of Acheron Rho to the Core, millions imbibe the Vibrant Dragon's poisons, unaware of the blood price that their chemical bliss carries. Independent harvest operations are put to the torch, their operators used as fertilizer nutrients. Smugglers found transporting rival cargoes are hung from buildings among the Stalactites, and parlors of substance not under the thumb of the Vibrant Dragon find their windows staved in by Abbasid warriors wrapped in all-too iconic green and black silks. Heaven and Hell both come from the pipe in turn, and few understand this better than the Lord of Fog himself. The Third The Stainless Dragon of the Stigmata Scale is the Third Dragon of New Montgomery, the most aggressive and fearsome of the Five. His business is in blood, both in the trade and dealing of thralls, and in equipping and training them as warriors to fight for sport. Free souls and mercenaries also test themselves in the dust and scarlet mud of the fighting pits, meeting their death head-on against the manacled fighters and personal gladiator thralls of the Stainless Dragon. Some survive, but none go unscathed, wrapped in scars like some tapestry of unspoken history, exemplars of the fragility of human life and the ease with which it can be taken - none more so than the Stigmata Scale himself. Countless numbers have died by his hand or blade, though it is said that this implacable slayer still longs for a worthy opponent, his skills sharpened to a keen edge in the short and savage history of his reign in the underground arenas. The Fourth Standing Fourth is the Shining Dragon of the Insatiable Maw, equal parts taskmaster and captain of industry. Their pick and drill constantly chisels at the flesh of Shān - stripping her of minerals and metals alike, the raw substances from which empires are forged. Shot and shell are cast here in secret foundries, unmarked weaponry to fuel border conflicts and sectarian rimworld bush wars. Above all others, the Shining Dragon keeps New Montgomery lit and alive, but at a serious cost to the lowly refugee caste that winds up here. Unknown to each other, all of the mining unions pay dues and owe loyalty in secret to the Insatiable Maw. Battalions of worker drones find dirty and grueling work scrambling through tunnels and arctic cold for glittering gems and ores, always seeking a better future built with bleeding hands. They are content with such menial labor, no longer are they starving in the streets of New Montgomery. These nameless soldiers of stone grind away at Shān and carve shrines in miniature from the walls of pits and tunnels, unrecognizable monuments to which the miners send prayers for wealth and prosperity. The Fifth Of Renown The Fifth Dragon is in flux, a crown whose jewels are marred and legacy tainted. This was the ancient and wise Abbasid chief known as the Enduring Dragon of the Oppressive Eye, a tyrant and leader who's wisdom orchestrated the fall of the Najmat Alhazi. His power vast and his kingdom impenetrable, the Enduring Dragon held the sprawl in a vice grip, terrible soldiers going unchallenged in the streets and his countenance held in silent awe by his 'peers.' Yet all is dust and ruin in the end, and the King of Glory was slain. A lone assassin, armed with naught but a length of piping and a strong arm full of righteous conviction, dashed the Dragon's head against his Throne and ended a reign of nearly three decades. His holdings splinter and crumble with each passing breath, the killer still unknown and at large, no truths forthcoming of the Tyrant's demise. How did the assassin infiltrate the Dragon's parlor and its zealous security? Who ordered the killing, if anyone? The other Four gained much in seeing the Oppressive Eye lidded forever. Even as the criminal underbelly of the sprawl stutters, it marches forward, unwilling or unable to stop even as it holds a collective breath, apprehensive in what the future holds following the collapse of the late Dragon. The Fifth, New Blood Rising to claim a seat as a Fifth in the wake of chaos is a once-lieutenant of the Enduring Dragon. An opportunist who sees a chance at seizing some remnant of glory even in the grim reality of death before him. The Insightful Dragon of the Envious Soul is looked down upon by his four compatriots, as his power is merely a vestment taken from a corpse. Knowing that his position is fragile and his new holdings are only loyal on the surface to the risen 'pretender,' the Insightful Dragon has struck alliances out far and wide with merchants and market-guards of the sprawl, seeking allies in a new direction for Abbasid - off world. Realizing that New Montgomery is worthless without the flow of trade, and his hands restrained in the Shipwreck City by the chains of debts and favors owed, the Usurper struggles to make his place in a city that thinks him illegitimate and weak, a parasite building off of a crumbling foundation. The Gholam Not to be confused with the Golems, the Gholam are anything but peacekeepers. These are the muscle behind each of the Five Dragons, enforcing their will - sometimes brutally - on the streets of the Shipwreck City. Recruiting from the various smaller street corner gangs, each force of Gholam stand a cut above the common thug, brandishing their Dragon's colors in their silks as a badge of pride. In point of fact, the Gholam are less common criminals and more private soldiers, which can be a rough adjustment for some of the gangers privileged enough to receive entrance. Rarely does a Gholam act on their own that doesn't end in the bloody removal of the errant agent. In compensation for this loss, they often demand tribute - on behalf of their overlord - from the smaller gangs operating within their territory. Such is life in New Montgomery, the more powerful always drawing sustenance from those less fortunate. Gangs A word must be spared for the many disparate gangs and street-side thugs of New Montgomery, the legions of criminals whose names will never be written down in history books. Protection rackets, robbery, burglary, murder, and every conceivable subversion of written law under the sun has, at some point, been perpetrated by the ne’er-do-wells of the underground sprawl. They boast teeth stained from Hong Lu designer drugs, jewelry and accouterments made from Hieran gold, and firearms stolen from every planet across the sector, modified and adapted to serve the custom needs of the modern lawbreaker. Upon such souls, the foundations of this free port are established - those willing to do whatever is necessary to get what is theirs, and then some. The Archangels A fire in the sprawl. The aftermath of a bloody turf war. Descending from the open air are masked figures clad in military surplus equipment, their armor soaked in a uniform red. Their antiquated gravity chutes flare up as they reach the ground, the exhaust jets projecting off to the sides, giving the illusion of translucent, scintillating wings. These are the aerial paramedics of the Archangels Hospitaller, dropping down from their medical facilities on the cavern roof to provide assistance to those in peril below. Originally just a standard EMT service, the Archangels chose to embrace their image as assistance from on high so as to better garner goodwill from the Montgomery populace. Over their many years of service, the Archangels have rescued several highly valued personnel from disasters and death alike. Furthermore, those being chased by powerful organizations with a vengeance have petitioned this medical order for safety and refuge until their pursuers relent from their murderous hunt. Thugs and kingpins alike are aware of the retribution that would be brought down upon their heads if they brought harm to the ‘good Samaritans’ of New Montgomery. Though they try their best to eschew bloody conflict, the Archangels have woven a web of favors and debts that endows them with a great deal of liquid resources to pull upon if their mission or members are ever put in jeopardy. Branch Ikeda Roaming the streets with unsheathed monoblades, the Branch Ikeda cartel are one of the more notorious criminal outfits in the sprawl, though small. When crime turns violent and loud in the alleyways, there’s a good chance an Ikeda sword struck the final blow. The Branch’s aptitude for martial violence keeps their neighborhood clean of opposing gangs, and the few residents of their turf who aren’t Ikeda are left relatively unmolested by random acts of burglary and thievery, though this safety is paid for in advance by the public executions of outside criminals. From their saunas and drug dens to the hallways of spaceborne vessels, Ikeda blades are a welcome sight for those who need an extra degree of safety in their extralegal endeavors. As of late, the power of the Branch has been greatly reduced, and their territorial hold has begun to weaken. When a blade wrongs the Branch, their fingers are severed and they are cast off onto the dim streets, forgotten by their past comrades. However, such outcasts have begun to unite under the moniker of the Twice-Broken Blade, rogue squads of disgraced street warriors who persecute their former allies through whatever means they deem necessary. Such embittered conflict led to the Golden Drake attacks, in which hundreds of civilians were killed by the detonation of an unknown chemical weapon on the fringe of Ikeda territory, in the small borough of Shōgo. The Branch and the Twice-Broken Blade level blame at one another’s feet as the instigators of the devastation, neither willing to claim responsibility for such a wanton lack of restraint. With the eyes of the city upon them and desiccated corpses still strewn about the toxic quarantine of the Shōgo borough, the future of these opposed warriors is anything but certain. Fidebdi Family Wearing three-piece suits like plate mail and patrolling the city streets in armored grav-cars, the Fidebdi Families are the epitome of high-society crime in New Montgomery. Most of the Families’ associates aren’t related by blood, with the relatively ancient criminal institution being racked with violence and constant competition, both inside and out. The original patriarchs of the Families were, purportedly, a band of Tiberian serfs who conspired to crash the HEX for personal gain. Though such a monumental task was beyond their capabilities, and these serfs eventually fled the Core, their supposed ancestry continues to influence the membership and operations of the Families to this day. Dour mobsters extort and prey on the poor for their few credits, their overclocked magnetic rifles offering an obvious message to those who resist their efforts. The majority of gambling houses and casinos in the Shipwreck City also fly the Fidebdi flag, staffed with card sharks tasked with keeping the cards profitable for the Families and the prospects appealing for poor fools fresh off the street. The culture of the Families is one built off of failure and recovery. When psiball superstar Tector Broden broke the bank with his repeated and unexpected winnings, the Fidebdi gambling network would have sunk if not for aggressive acquisition of independent houses of fortune through the city. When several Kaymakam of the Clan Abbasid were gunned down in the middle of the day by power-hungry Fidebdi goons, the Families had to empty out their coffers for bribing Abbasid influencers and silencing witnesses, so as to not be banished from the mountain fastness. As the city rises to meet the new dawn, the Families will meet new dangers head-on and endure them, for better or worse. Category:Vagrant Category:Shān Category:Hild Category:Cities Category:Locations